Indias de Mayaguez tab Bianca Simmons - May 29, 2013

Indias de Mayaguez bolstered their roster. They inked Bianca Simmons(168-G) for the upcoming season. The guard will start her pro career

in Puerto Rico. Bianca Simmons has just graduated from the University of Massachusetts-Lowell. She averaged impressive 28.2 points

and 7.4 boards per game in her senior season. Simmons led all Division II scorers with 28.2 points per game and drove UMass

Lowell to its best season in 10 years 18-9 overall and 15-7 in the Northeast-10 Conference up from an 11-16/9-13 finish in

2011-12. At the end of the season, Simmons was tabbed to participate in the 2013 WNBA College Combine at the

Women's Final Four in New Orleans. She made it into Daktronics All-NCAA D2 1st Team. Bianca Simmonswas also

named into WBCA Division II All-America Team. BSNF new season is scheduled to start late in August.

GAME 5!

LeBron James fouled out with under a minute remaining in the Pacers' 99-92 victory in Game 4 on Tuesday.

Keep up with the latest news, on the court and off, with The Times's basketball blog.

With under a minute to play in the fourth quarter, and Miami trailing the Indiana Pacers by 4 points, Heat guard Dwyane Wade stood dribbling at the top of the key. James stepped above the free-throw line to set a screen and Wade dribbled toward him. James made contact with Lance Stephenson, the man guarding Wade, and a whistle was blown.

James was called for his sixth foul. He held out his hands and stared, mouth agape and incredulous, from referee to referee, as if to plead for a second opinion. Then he trudged toward the bench, done for the night.

“I didn’t believe it was an offensive foul,” he said after the Pacers completed a 99-92 win to even the Eastern Conference finals at two games apiece. “I felt like I was stationary. Lance actually ran into me.”

In a league rife with conspiracy theories about officiating and star players getting preferential treatment from referees, James’s relegation to the bench for the closing moments of a playoff game was every bit as surprising as the Pacers bouncing back from a blowout loss in Game 3.

“Without him, they’re not the same team,” Stephenson said. “That helped us a lot.”

The only other time James had fouled out in the postseason was in Game 4 of last season’s conference finals against the Boston Celtics, a Heat loss that knotted that series at two apiece, as well. That instance, though, came in overtime.

As against the Celtics, the Heat would again falter down the stretch Tuesday night without their best player. After forcing a turnover on the Pacers’ ensuing possession after James’s foul, Wade passed to Shane Battier, who nailed a 3-pointer and appeared to cut the lead to one. But Wade was called for traveling. It was another call that drew quizzical looks from the Heat players.

“I have two kids and I need to put them through college, so I’m not going to respond to anything about the officiating,” Battier said. “It was a hard-fought game. We didn’t play well enough to win.”

In the postgame news conference, James, too, questioned more than just his sixth foul. He wondered about a call that went against him when he stepped in front of Paul George on a drive, and another when he was called for a push against David West in the third quarter.

“It was a couple of calls that I didn’t feel like were fouls on me,” said James, who finished with 24 points, 6 rebounds and 5 assists.

As the series has progressed, the officiating has become an increasingly popular story line. Before Games 3 and 4, the Heat faced questions about flopping, and James said it was a useful tool if it could give his team an advantage. In the Heat’s previous series, Chicago Bulls Coach Tom Thibodeau said James flopped. Last year in the playoffs, Pacers Coach Frank Vogel was fined for accusing Miami of the same tactic.

In Game 3 against the Pacers, Wade appeared to exaggerate contact along the baseline when he fell out of bounds without much of a push. In Game 4, bodies continued to hit the deck, and at several points in the game the Bankers Life Fieldhouse crowd chanted, “Beat the floppers.”

The Pacers also appeared to do a little acting of their own. Stephenson recoiled from contact from what looked to be a phantom elbow from Ray Allen as the two ran down the court. No foul was called.

“You just want to protect yourself,” West said of exercising caution when players are on the floor so often. “You don’t want somebody falling into your knee or legs or something like that.”

Heat players insisted that come Game 5 in Miami Thursday, there would be no mind paid to the referees.

“We just have to concentrate on what we can do, control what we can control,” Heat forward Chris Bosh said. “That’s something we always talk about. No matter how the game is called or what the pace is, if we do what we do we’ll have a chance.”

James agreed, despite his disappointment on a night in which he was forced to watch the game’s deciding moments from the bench.

“You would like to be out there on the floor, especially me,” he said. “Be there for my teammates, especially in the closing minutes when we have a chance to win.”

American forward Nola Taylor (188-F-87) had a great game in the last round for 55 Genclik, receiving a Eurobasket.com TKB2L Player of the Week award for round 14.

The 25-year old player had a double-double of 33 points and 16 rebounds, while her team outclassed Yunus (#7, 5-9) with 39-point margin 101-62. 55 Genclik maintains the 5th position in Turkish TKB2L.

They would have been even better if they hadn't lost a few games earlier this season. 55 Genclik will need more victories to improve their 8-6 record. Taylor turned to be 55 Genclik's top

player in her first season with the team. Former Texas A&M University - Commerce star has very solid stats this year. Taylor is in league's top in rebounds (2nd best: 14.9rpg) and averages impressive

1.2bpg and 50.3% FGP.

The second best player in last round's games was 29-year old American Tiffany Stansbury (191-F/C-83) of league's leader Cankaya. Stansbury had a very good evening with a double-double of 25 points and 19 rebounds.

Of course she lead Cankaya to another comfortable win outscoring the lower-ranked Balcova (#6, 6-8) 110-51. Of course Cankaya still keep group C's top spot. She plays for the best team in the league and

Cankaya managed to win all 14 games keeping perfect record. Stansbury is a newcomer at Cankaya, but is already one of team's top players. She belongs to the best scorers in the league with 20.4ppg (#8).

She also registered 13.7 boards per game.

Third on the list of top players last round was Eyfel Akar (87) of Izmir BSB (#4). Akar got into 30-points club by scoring 34 points in the last round. She went also for ten rebounds . She was a key player of Izmir BSB,

leading her team to a 81-55 easy win against the lower-ranked Anadolu Univ. (#7, 3-10). Izmir BSB needs these

victories very badly if they think about getting closer to top teams in group B. Their record at this point is 7 victories and 6 lost games. Akar has a very solid season. In 13 games in Turkey she scored 13.5ppg.

The Player of the week is choosen based on efficiency calculation, but also including game result, importance of the game, if played recorded double-double/triple-double, etc. The efficiency formula is a combination of various formulas used by different basketball organizations/leagues. We got involved many basketball scouts and journalists to assure it's accuracy. The formula: 1.5*PTS + 3*(REB+AST+ST+BL-TO) - 2*BSAG - 4*PF + 3*PFRV + 4*(2FGPM+3FGPM) + 1.5*FTM - 3*(2FGPA-2FGPM) - 3*(3FGPA-3FGPM) - (FTA-FTM)

The Player of the week is choosen based on efficiency calculation, but also including game result, importance of the game, if played recorded double-double/triple-double, etc. The efficiency formula is a combination of various formulas used by different basketball organizations/leagues. We got involved many basketball scouts and journalists to assure it's accuracy. The formula: 1.5*PTS + 3*(REB+AST+ST+BL-TO) - 2*BSAG - 4*PF + 3*PFRV + 4*(2FGPM+3FGPM) + 1.5*FTM - 3*(2FGPA-2FGPM) - 3*(3FGPA-3FGPM) - (FTA-FTM)

Atleticos UCV added Yima Chia-Kurr (196-F-86, college: Arkansas St.) to its roster looking for the winning way in the 2012 Venezuela's National basketball League. The Venezuela National League has been improving considerably in the last two seasons and has become one of the most important basketball leagues in South America.

This fact is strong enough for team managers to add high level basketball players such Yima Chia-Kurr in their rosters.

Yima has an NBA type body; he is a focused player and is ready for any challenge given to him. His goal is to maximize his potential in order to be a top player in the future."Yima is a hard worker and will put the team on his back...he hustles hard, will not be denied on defense...scores in many ways" Corey D McCoy.